Plurality NOT Majority of Germans Find No Alternative to AfD!

The AfD’s victory in Saxony-Anhalt is not a triumph of right‑wing extremism but a signal that German voters are tired of a system that spends billions on rearmament and Ukraine while forgetting its own citizens.

Фото: REUTERS/Thilo Schmuelgen

Several German tourists I spoke with, who considered themselves “escapees”—and not from the former DDR—were telling me days before the election that many bridges were closed and there was no money for repairs. They expressed their frustration by asking, “Where has all the money gone? Where are the jobs, and what happened to their hopes for the future?”

Life for average Germans, much like in the United States, is becoming far too expensive. Rising unemployment, increasing energy costs, reduced social benefits, and declining expectations for the future are creating a growing sense of frustration and uncertainty.

It is too simple and naïve to blame the recent electoral upset in one eastern German state, Saxony-Anhalt, solely on the refugee issue and nostalgia for better days in Germany. Much more is involved—and perhaps something even more sinister.

The so-called center parties—including the CDU and SPD—have failed to convince a growing number of Germans that they are addressing the country’s fundamental problems. They are increasingly perceived as more responsive to NATO commitments, strategic interests, looking after immigrants from the third world, and pressure from Washington than to the economic concerns of their own voters.

Germany is now embarking on an extraordinary military buildup. Berlin has earmarked more than €108 billion for security and defense in 2026 and is committed to reaching 3.5 percent of GDP in core defense spending by 2029, in line with the broader NATO push for dramatically higher military spending.

But this raises a question that politicians cannot simply dismiss: Where is the return on that investment?

The article, “Why the AfD Wins,” was published by First Things on September 7, 2026. Caldwell argues that the AfD’s rise cannot be understood simply through labels such as extremism, anti-immigration politics, or alleged Russian influence. His broader explanation........

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